Guitar pick attachment for the forefinger



1957 M. s; m PRETA 2,776,592

GUITAR PICK ATTACHMENT FOR THE FOREFINGER Filed Aug. 7, 1953 I NVENTORWZ W flW/M a m V ATTORNEY GUITAR PICK ATTACHMENT non run FOREFINGERlyiichael S. Di Preta, Sharon, Pa.

Application August 7-, 1953, Serial No. 373,016

1 Claim. (Cl. 84-322) Thisinvention relates to guitar picks, and moreparticularly has reference to a guitar pick that is adapted to beattached to ones forefinger, to facilitate playing of a Spanish guitar,banjo, or related stringed instrument.

From time to time, it happens that a guitar player, whether a beginneror a professional, will accidentally drop his or her pick, andobviously, this is embarrassing should the dropping of the pick occurduring the playing of a composition before an audience. One importantobject of the present invention, accordingly, is to provide a guitarpick attachment for the forefinger which will be so designed as toeffectively preclude accidental dropping thereof.

Another object of importance is to provide a guitar pick attachmentwhich will be so designed as to permit the pick to be swiftly adjustedto an out-of-the-way, inoperative position whenever desired. Thisparticular feature is of importance, in view of the fact that during theplaying of some compositions, the instrumentalist may desire to playpart of the composition with a pick, and another part with the barefingers. This is not possible when an ordinary pick is used, since thereis insuflicient time during the playing of a composition, to discard apick.

I am aware of pick attachments that have previously been devised, one ofthese attachments being a thumb pick. A thumb pick is not used, however,on Spanish guitars or banjos because it lacks flexibility, the thumbbeing too awkward for playing compositions on instruments'of this type.The present invention, as distinguished from a thumb pick of the typereferred to, is attachable directly to ones forefinger, rather than tothe thumb, and is adjustable upon the forefinger between operative andinoperative positions.

Another object of importance is to provide a pick attachment as statedwhich will be inexpensive, so as to be capable of manufacture at littleincrease of cost above that required for the manufacture of aconventional pick, and which is additionally so designed as to retainthe shape and flexibility of a conventional pick.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claimsappended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like referencecharacters designate like parts throughout the several views, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a pick attachment formed inaccordance with the present invention, as it appears when in use, aguitar on which said attachment is being used being illustratedfragmentarily;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the pick attachment adjusted toan inoperative position;

Figure 3 is an elevational view of the attachment per se; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4of Figure 3.

The reference numeral has been applied generally 2,776,592 I PatentedJan. 8, 1957 2. in the several figures of the drawing to designate astringed instrument, and at this point, it should be noted that thedevice constituting the invention can be used With any of variousinstruments falling within this category. The device is used toparticular advantage, in this regard, on Spanish guitars or banjos, butcan be used on other instruments as well.

in any event, the pick attachment has been designated generally by thereference numeral 12, and has been illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; as itappears when applied to a forefinger F. The attachment includes aclamping band 14, the cross sectional configuration of which complementsthe cross section of the forefinger, so as to permit the clamping bandto be snugly engaged about the forefinger. The clampingband is ofspringable characteristics, and can be of plastic or metal material,whichever is desired. The clamping band has inwardly bent spring armsterminating at their free ends in spaced relation to one another asshown in Figure 4, thus to permit the arms to be spread apart forapplication of the device to the forefinger, or for removal of thedevice from the finger.

Medially between its ends, the clamping band 14 has a rivet 16, therivet 16 extending outwardly from the mid-length portion of the clampingband, through an opening formed in the free end of a tongue 18 that isintegral, at its other end, with a pick body 20. The pick body 21} is ofgenerally triangular outer configuration, with rounded corners, thisbeing the general configuration of a conventional pick.

in use of the device, the clamping band is applied to the forefinger asshown in Figure l, and the pick is swingable about the axis defined bythe rivet 16, to an operative position shown in Figure 1. In thisposition, the tongue 18 is extended in the direction of the length ofthe outer end of the forefinger, so as to cause the pick body 20 toproject beyond said outer end of the finger. The rivet 16, whilepermitting pivotal movement of the pick body in the general direction ofthe strings of the instrument, does not permit pivotal movement of thepick body in a direction transverse of the strings. The pick body will,of course, flex during movement thereof transversely of the strings, inthe same manner as a conventional pick will flex during playing of amusical composition.

Assuming that it is desired to shift the pick to an in operativeposition during the playing of a musical composition, one need merelyflick the pick body and tongue upwardly, about the axis of the rivet 16,to an inoperative position shown in Figure 2. In this position of thepick body and tongue, the body is extended in a direction away from theouter end of the finger, thus to permit the strings to be contacteddirectly by the bare finger.

The movement of the pick between the inoperative and operative positionsthereof can be effected with minimum loss of time, thus to interfere inno way with the playing of a musical composition. It may be noted thatthe construction differs from ordinary thumb picks in this respect,since a conventional thumb pick cannot be adjusted to an inoperativelocation, and must be removed entirely from the finger if the stringsare to be picked with the bare fingers.

It is also considered to be of importance that while the pick has freepivotal movement in one direction, it has no pivotal movement in adirection at right angles to the first-named direction, while stillbeing allowed to flex in the second-named direction. This causes thepick to be usable in the manner of a conventional guitar pick, withoutsacrificing quality during the playing of a musical composition.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confied tothe specific use or uses thereof 'described above, since it may beutilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the inventionto be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated anddescribed, since such construction is only intended to be illustrativeof the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carryout said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehendsany minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

A guitar pick attachment for the forefinger comprising a resilientclamping band adapted to be circumposed about a forefinger, saidclamping band including a pivot pin projecting radially outwardlytherefrom medially between the opposite ends of the clamping band; anelon gated, narrow tongue having an opening at one end re ceiving thepivot pin, said tongue being pivotally connected to the pin to swingthereon solely in a plane tangential to the band and normal to theradius thereof, between opposite extreme positions in one of which thetongue extends in the direction of the upper end of the forefinger fromthe clamping band, and in the other of which the tongue extends in anopposite direction from the clamping band toward the inner end of theforefinger, the tongue being flexible in a direction at right angles tosaid plane; and an approximately triangular pick body integrally securedto the other end of the tongue in the plane thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS413,579 Stewart Oct. 22, 1889 557,293 Wahl Mar. 31, 1896 FOREIGN PATENTS314,159 Germany Sept. 3, 1919

